Mechanical Technology April 2015

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Mechanical Technology — April 2015 39
⎪ Products and services ⎪
The vertical turbine slurry
pump – VTSP
Weir Minerals Floway Pumps’
patented VTSP addresses the
market need for a longer lasting,
abrasive-solids handling vertical
turbine pump. Following several
years of design innovation, re-
search and testing, the VTSP
has been demonstrated to
last four times longer in solids
handling services when compared
and tested with the Floway ® verti-
cal turbine pump bearing assembly.
The patented VTSP bearing de-
sign allows for continuous operation
in services with a maximum solid
content of 10% by weight and tem-
porary excursions of up to 20%.
This design results in a longer mean
time between required maintenance
and an overall reduction in the
customer’s total operational costs.
“We listened to our customers
when they expressed the need for
an abrasive-solids handling verti-
cal turbine pump which would last
longer than the available designs
in the market today,” says Barry
Cockerham, managing director of
Weir Minerals Floway Pumps in
Fresno, California. “We responded
with the VTSP, which we believe will
provide extended life while main-
taining the highest product quality.”
“Wear life is critical in many
pump applications and the existing technology
was not producing acceptable results”, adds
Daniel Boldt, product engineering manager
at Weir Minerals Floway Pumps. “Due to the
demanding nature of abrasive services, design
innovation was required to realise a significant
improvement in wear life. After extensive design
work and both in-house and field testing, the
new VTSP product line demonstrates a notable
advantage over traditional vertical turbine
designs.”
Weir Minerals Floway Pumps has supplied
pumps and processing products for the Minerals
industry for over 80 years. “We are dedicated
to engineering, manufacturing and servicing
high quality, long lasting products such as the
VTSP,” Cockerham concludes.
The Dodge brand has been synonymous
with the best the industry has to offer for
more than 125 years, according to Bear-
ings International’s bearings manager,
Ross Trevelyan. “This tried-and-tested
product offers a host of important cost
saving benefits and enjoys wide accep-
tance within our local market,” he says.
The Dodge MTA mechanical drive
range provides a heavy-duty solution for
any bulk materials handling application
that requires a shaft-mounted reducer.
They are predominantly used in the
quarrying and aggregate sectors but are
equally at home in the coal, iron-ore,
wood and sugar industries. “The fact that
the Dodge MTA units enable any brand of
IEC B5 flange motor to be used with the
reducers adds to the product’s popularity.
We noted a steady increase in demand
for the units over the past two years and
in September 2014 the MTA range was
extended from the initially available 2,
4 and 6 sizes, to also include sizes 3,
5, 7 and 8. This has enabled us to offer
customers the complete MTA mechanical
drive range from 1.5 kW to 75 kW, based
on output speed and a service factor of
1.4,” Trevelyan reveals.
The Dodge range includes the tradi-
tional torque arm branded series (the belt
driven Dodge Torque-Arm II shaft-mount-
ed reducers) and the motorised MTA unit.
The torque arm units, originally invented
in 1946 and developed over time, are
shaft mounted gear products and belt-
driven, with MTA motorised versions also
available. A key feature on both units
is the exclusive, twin-tapered bushing.
“This provides a sturdy, concentric grip
SKF has signed a one-year contract with
Italian HSD SpA for the supply
of super precision bearings
for the electro-spindles
used in the woodwork-
ing segment. “This
order is of significant
importance because
it gives us an op-
portunity to increase
our market share in
the woodworking seg-
ment in which we see
a large potential.
“Also, we are very glad
to gain HSD’s confidence by
showing that we can meet their
Drive solutions with motorised torque arms – MTAs
on the driven shaft on both sides of the
reducer, which eliminates the excessive
wobble and fretting corrosion normally
associated with single-bushed shaft-
mounted reducers,” explains Trevelyan.
Dodge’s bushings are fully split to
completely grip the driven shaft and ac-
cording to Trevelyan, fitment and removal
of the bushings are simple processes.
Dodge’s bushings are manufactured
from ductile iron for shock resistance.
The units are equipped with taper roller
bearings providing an average minimum
bearing life span of 25 000 hours which
is compliant with the American Gear
Manufacturers Association standards.
“Dodge MTAs offer solutions for
all industries and we have invested in
substantial stock to service the local
market’s diverse applications,” concludes
Trevelyan.
Dodge motorised torque arm units (MTAs)
are used in industries where a shaft-
mounted reducer is required particularly in
the quarrying and aggregate sectors.
Super precision bearings for the woodworking segment
high expectations on quality, technol-
ogy and future development,”
says Ezio Miglietta, SKF in-
dustrial market, sales and
marketing.
HSD SpA is a leading
global supplier of elec-
tro-spindles for mill-
ing, drilling and edge
banding in wood,
aluminium and plas-
tic, where high speed
capability, reduced
friction, low noise and
vibration levels are im-
portant requirements. The
SKF super precision bearings
enable all these requirements to be met.
The contract includes four sizes of
sealed super-precision hybrid bearings,
which will be produced in SKF’s factory
in Torino, Italy.